1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and methods for resectioning a bone, and, more particularly, to devices and associated methods for gauging resection depth.
2. Description of Related Art
In arthroscopic surgical procedures for alleviating joint damage, it is typical to remove a portion of a bone. An exemplary procedure is that undertaken to correct impingement syndrome in the shoulder, when the subacromial space in the rotator cuff is tight, or if a spur or downward curvature is present in the acromion. Bone may also be thinned preparatory to attaching a soft tissue graft, such as in anterior cruciate ligament replacement surgery, wherein 5-7 mm of the lateral femoral condyle may be removed to avoid impingement on the ligament graft.
At present there is no known method of determining precisely how much bone should be removed, nor of gauging how much bone has been removed during the procedure. As these procedures are performed through the limited perspective available from arthroscopy, further limited by its monocular nature, depth perception is compromised. Consequently, a surgeon may remove an insufficient amount of bone, possibly mis-sizing, resulting in an impingement problem, or may oversize, creating an inadequate fit, potentially leaving the patient with too little bone mass and with a susceptibility to subsequent fracture.
Other situations also require a knowledge of bone thickness: for gauging bone removal in an osteomyelitis procedure, during reaming of long bones having intramedullary fractures, and for cortex thinning prior to insertion of stemmed arthroplasty components. There is currently no device or method for measuring bone thickness for any of these applications.